Europe’s largest tour operator, TUI Airlines, has finally secured a license from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority(KCAA) to operate charter flights from Amsterdam to Mombasa and Zanzibar, marking victory after a series of failed attempts to win the rights. KCAA has granted TUI a permit to offer tour charters on the Amsterdam-Zanzibar-Amsterdam-Mombasa route for a year, effective November 10, 2025.“Two frequencies per week without traffic rights between Zanzibar and Mombasa using aircraft type B787 based in Amsterdam,” the regulator said in a disclosure dated December 24, 2025. TUI had, in August 2025, made a fresh shot at getting a license from the KCAA to operate flights from Amsterdam to Mombasa, less than two months after a similar request was rejected earlier in June 2025. In its application in August, TUI indicated that it planned to operate two flight frequencies per week without traffic rights between Zanzibar and Mombasa using aircraft type B787 based in Amsterdam. In the aviation industry, flights without traffic rights refer to those that operate under the First or Second Freedom of the Air.These freedoms allow an airline to fly over another country's airspace without landing (First Freedom) or to land for technical stops such as refueling (Second Freedom), but without picking up or dropping off passengers or cargo. With the fresh permit by the KCAA, TUI will be targeting to tap the opportunities from the resurgence in the tourism industry through its charter services to various destinations, including in Asia, North and South America, and Africa. In a tour charter plane service, an aircraft is hired by a tour operator or travel agency to transport a group of visitors to a specific destination on a pre-arranged schedule, rather than being part of a scheduled airline's regular flight service. Chartering a flight privately offers many benefits compared to flying commercially, including flexibility as one can choose their itinerary and departure time, among others.This is very different than flying commercially as the plane, route, and times are all fixed. The decision to hand a permit to TUI comes months after tourism associations raised objections, arguing that vertically integrated foreign tour operators could undercut local airlines, tour firms, and hoteliers. Industry critics said such operators bundle flights and accommodation, which cut spending in Kenya. However, regulators and government officials have consistently defended the move, framing it as a capacity and competitiveness issue. The Kenyan coast has also struggled to regain pre-pandemic volumes as rival destinations attracted European charter traffic to support their winter tourism demand.. (ICE NAIROBI)

Fonte notizia: The Daily Nation - Business news